The true history of the MacArthur “genius grant” — “I figured out how to make the money. You fellows will have to figure out how to spend it.” With every fall comes auburn leaves, overpriced pumpkin lattes, and palpable excitement over an obscure merit-based lottery only a few can ever hope to achieve. That time of year where The…

#1. The Pulitzer Prize and an assassination — “All is vanity, nothing is fair.” — William Makepeace Thackeray Who doesn’t dream of climbing to the peak of their profession? Almost every industry under the sun has one award or another to recognize doing just that. Actors secretly covet holding the definitely-not-phallic golden statue of a naked male knight…

Why a president helped install Adolf Hitler — “History is perhaps correct, but don’t forget, it is written by the victors.” The above quote is often misattributed to Winston Churchill, but it has been a trope throughout centuries of history. Churchill used a similar line several times, often an attempt at a joke. History should be the ultimate…

For completely selfish reasons — “Everybody’s a mad scientist, and life is their lab.” — David Cronenberg Alf was born in Stockholm, Sweden in the black and white years of 1833 to an intelligent but relatively poor family. His father, a generalist, had the various occupations of engineer, inventor, and architect. Some of his genes…

But you might not want to step foot in it — Things were revving up for some Germans at the end of WWI. In particular, a man by the name of Otto Steinitz fancied himself with a solution to a long-term problem. Trains go vroom vroom. But can they go vroom vroom vroom? Otto thought he had the answer. While the…

Would you bring a beer to your friend…in an active war zone on the other side of the world? — John “Chickie” Donohue had already served his time in the U.S. Marines during the early stages of the Vietnam War. A local sandhog (tunnel construction worker) in New York City, he enjoyed the occasional pint at his favorite watering hole. One day in 1967, the barflies were watching the seemingly…

One small but arrogant decision ended up costing a country dearly and saving the rest of us — January of 1917 was a tumultuous time, to say the least. America had not yet joined the war. Germany and its allies looked to be on a winning trajectory. The world was fraught with fear. Over in the US, politics raged over whether or not to come to the assistance…

And was even stripped of his citizenship — If that face above doesn’t look familiar to you, look a bit closer. He’s the grandfather of one of the most famous US presidents in the last 100 years. And he has quite the life story behind him. Born in the small Bavarian town of Kallstadt, modern-day Germany, Friedrich was…

A look at the incredible history of some of the oldest businesses still opening their doors — When I was a young boy growing up in Canada, the winter months were always a particular joy for me. Not because of the sledding, the snowboarding, or the occasional ice ball lobbed at my face. No, I loved it for the feeling of Christmas time. The break from school…

How much do you value your own principles? — “We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts, and to stand by their convictions, even to the very death.” — Robert Green Ingersoll I wonder how literally Robert actually took those words. Would he have sacrificed his life to follow his own convictions? He died…

The shocking story behind this gorgeous remote island in the Pacific — In the days of pirates and unknown exploration into the big deep blue, the Pacific ocean was a land of tribes, kingdoms, and greedy colonialists. Any spot of land was looked upon as being untouched and ripe for the taking by sailors from the other side of the planet. Spot…

A brief history of why the hell we still pay income taxes — “The difference between death and taxes is death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” — Will Rogers We all hate paying taxes. Some of us are better at avoiding them, some of us aren’t, even fewer of us feel it is our civilian duty to pay every single penny. …

Because we don’t know where they are anymore — Serial killers have become a point of fascination in recent years. From the amazing award-winning Bear Brook podcast to Mindhunter on Netflix, media producers guessed (correctly) the public would become captivated by these outliers of society. So today I wondered, would people also be interested in knowing about several notorious…

It’s why you’re able to read this sentence — What is the greatest invention in human history? It’s definitely an arguable point, that’s for sure. Some scholars say it was the wheel, as it allowed us to move great distances much faster. Others like to point to nails and screws, as they gave us the ability to create structures…

Because he was in the Texas Rangers — “Hi-Ho, Silver, blast away!” The noble white horse. The characteristic silver bullets. The racist trope of a sidekick. Most of us remember The Lone Ranger as a rule-stretching, right-from-wrong-having, justice-always-prevails Texas cowboy with a badge. But if he was based on reality, he probably would’ve been more famous for his…

The morally amusing history of roller coasters in America — Rewind 500 years ago and you might’ve come across an interesting sight in St. Petersburg. 80-foot tall stairs leading up to a platform that curved down into an upside-down arch. The slides were covered in slick ice in the middle of winters. …

Scientists aren’t quite sure — There’s something positively rapturing about volcanoes. They’re mysterious. They’re glorious to observe from a safe distance. They’re an ancient ominous threat that could destroy our surroundings without a moment’s notice. Even though we know they’re dangerous, we’re still drawn to them. People go to photograph fresh explosions or escaping gas…

The Nazis wanted proof of the dark arts — to connect them with an ancient pagan race — Way back in 1920, the newly founded Nazi Party put out a document stating its beliefs and platform. While the document was full of a lot of eye-opening viewpoints and crazy beliefs, there was one point that remained hidden in plain sight — a bullet point that explained the Nazi…

The tale of how two young women made their way onto the high seas — The year was 1685 and a young mother was worried sick with grief. Her husband was a sailor working for the Kingdom of England’s navy at the time — and she hadn’t heard from him in ages. Her boy, as much as she loved him, wasn’t just sick with missing…

Getting caught in the act can sometimes be fatal — “We have reason to believe that man first walked upright to free his hands for masturbation.” ― Lily Tomlin Not all good stories have a happy ending. When people make the ultimate commitment to their significant others, they state their vows and live happily ever after until the very end. …